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PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

agriculture and fisheries. During the past 20 years, thousands of ha of forest have been
cleared for agricultural expansion. Considerable pressure is thus placed on natural
resources and forests to meet the increasing needs of an expanding population and
to satisfy governmental policy of improving living standards. Therefore, emphasis will
be placed on ensuring proper land use planning and sufficient land allocation for all
rural people; protecting catchment areas to reduce erosion and ensuring a more even
flow of water (Khamhung).

Viet Nam’s soil resources are being acidic, salinized, eroded, and gradually lost
their arable capacity due to the cultivation of 3 rice crops on the same area of land,
leaving no time for the land time to recover. At the same time, the habit of improperly
using and overexploitation a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides also degrades
and pollutes the land for rice cultivation. This greatly affects the rice yield, reduces
the efficiency of rice cultivation, and reduces the quality. However, the rice sector has
changed when applying farming processes such as IPM, ICM, etc. to reduce input use,
reduce soil pollution and increase rice quality rice. Water resources for rice farming
are also being reduced due to hydropower and reservoir construction activities in
the upstream areas. Hydroelectric power plants in the upper Mekong and Red Rivers
reduce the amount of water entering Viet Nam’s two largest rice production areas, the
Red River Delta, and the Mekong River Delta. Many localities lack water to irrigate and
suffer from saltwater intrusion. In addition, the regulation of hydropower reservoirs
also causes competition for irrigation water with rice in the dry season and may cause
flooding in the rainy season when the hydropower reservoirs discharge. Irrigation will
become more and more difficult; the cost of growing rice will increase, and it will be
harder for farmers’ income to increase. Thus, the policy of exempting irrigation fees
will gradually no longer be effective because farmers have to spend money to buy
water pumps when the canals do not have as much water as before.

Currently, in Thailand case, because of the intensive farming in the past
decades, Thailand now faces an increasing environmental degradation in many
regions, including the loss of bio-diversify and declining wildlife population,
deforestation, desertification, water scarcity, etc. Thailand possesses abundant water
resources, however the volume of renewable internal freshwater resources per capita
has reduced from about 7,700 m per capita in 1962 to about 3,300 m3 in 2014,
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closely related to growth in population, as seen in the graph below. This represents
increased water scarcity contributing to prolonged dry seasons in Thailand. One
major factor in this change has been the development of irrigation schemes, which
has been essential to the development of Thailand’s domestic and export agricultural
sector to provide livelihood opportunities for Thai citizens. However, rainfall storage
in Thailand averages only 30% of total rainfall volume, with shortages often occurring
at the time when agricultural demand is highest. This has become a critical issue that
has worsened over time. This in turn has been a major factor in the decline in quality
and quantity of water resources in aquifers and watersheds. For example, wetlands
located in peri-urban areas in Thailand have become increasingly degraded through
drivers such as their conversion to rice paddies, urban and industrial development,
and pollution from industrial run off and pesticides.

As of 2022, all countries are committing to achieving carbon footprint reduction.
In Viet Nam, the commitment for zero carbon emission by 2050, targeting to remove
coal-fueled power generation by 2040; ending deforestation by 2030 in sighing
“Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use”; reducing methane emission

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